Authors:
Yerkovich ST; Hales BJ; Carroll ML; Burel JG; Towers MA; Smith DJ; Thomas WR; Upham JW
Authors notes:
BMC Pulmonary Medicine. 2012;12(37):1-7
Keywords:
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Respiratory viral infections, Immunity, Rhinovirus
Abstract
Acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) are often linked to respiratory infections.
However, it is unknown if COPD patients who experience frequent exacerbations have impaired humoral immunity.
The aim of this study was to determine if antibodies specific for common respiratory pathogens are associated with AECOPD.
COPD patients who had an AECOPD (n = 32) had significantly lower anti-VP1 IgG1 antibody levels when stable compared to COPD patients who did not have an AECOPD (n = 28, p = 0.024).
Furthermore, the number of hospitalisations was inversely proportional to anti-VP1 antibody levels (r = 0.331, p = 0.011).
Deficient humoral immunity specific for rhinoviruses is associated with AECOPD requiring hospitalisation, and may partly explain why some COPD patients have an increased exacerbation risk following respiratory viral infections.